Lily's Dream (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 3

  “I wanted to come by and go through the house so we could decide on the order of repairs. I’m surprised you didn’t hear me come up. The stairs on the porch squeak badly.” He was absolutely determined to act like nothing had happened.

  Jake began opening cabinets until he found the coffee mugs and grabbed two down. He poured both and turned to give her a cup. She was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, her arms wrapped around her middle. He placed her cup on the table and moved to lean against the counter.

  “Do you need cream or sugar?” Lily asked, heading toward the refrigerator to take out a small carton of cream. When she unwound her arms, Jake could see her nipples poking against the sports bra. It was all he could do not to groan.

  “No, I drink it black.” His voice was huskier than usual, causing her to look at him more closely. Her gaze travelled down his chest and settled for a moment over the bulge in his jeans. Her face flushed, and her gaze jerked back to his eyes. Lily took a short step back. Then she squared her shoulders and walked toward him.

  Jake swallowed hard. The look in her eyes was all hot and knowing female. He’d never expected to see that look on Lily’s face. He didn’t move. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do about a woman.

  Jake stood leaning against the counter, his ankles crossed, making him a few inches shorter than his normal six foot two. Lily stood only a few inches from him, her feet on either side of his crossed ankles. She put her hand on his arm.

  “Did I thank you for helping me find this house?” Lily asked, rubbing her hand up and down his arm suggestively.

  “Uh, yeah. A couple of times.” Jake tried to sound smooth, but he knew he sounded like a young boy talking to his first crush on the playground.

  “Well, I really appreciate it.” Lily leaned up and hugged him briefly. He could feel her quivering, and his lifelong determination to stay away from Lily broke. As she began to lean back, his arms came around her back, pulling her firmly against his body. He lowered his head and took her mouth.

  * * * *

  Lily was shocked at her own boldness. She’d never thought she’d have the courage to approach Jake as a woman, but she knew she had nothing to lose. When she’d stepped close to him and touched his arm, his muscles seemed to coil even tighter. Finally, she’d hugged him, thrilling at the feel of his body against hers. Just when she was about to give up and step back, he kissed her, and what a kiss it was! His mouth was hard on hers, and he had wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her up onto her toes.

  After a moment, he changed the angle of the kiss and pushed his tongue into her mouth. He also put his hands on her ass and ground his hardness into her, lifting her higher so that he was rubbing against her mound using the same tempo he used when thrusting his tongue into her mouth. When he grasped her breast, Lily gave a deep, harsh groan.

  * * * *

  Jake couldn’t help himself. He felt like the leash he had tied on his desire for Lily years ago had snapped. He could feel her slight softness and just wanted to bury his body in hers again and again. Her small ass fit into one hand as he lifted her to accept his grinding. He moved his other hand up to her breast and squeezed.

  He could feel her pencil eraser nipples press deeply into his hand, and he heard her groan. The sound shocked him back to his senses. He grabbed her arms and pushed her away from him.

  “I’m so sor—” he began to say.

  “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” Lily said in a broken whisper. She put her first two fingers onto her lips, either to soothe them or to hold the feelings, he couldn’t tell. All he knew was he’d been rough with her. Her mouth looked swollen, and he remembered the way he’d been grinding against her.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked, locking his hands against the counter to stop from reaching her again.

  “Do I look hurt?” she asked, putting her arms out.

  Jake looked at her flushed skin and the nipples puckered against her bra. “No, but I was rough.”

  “I can take it.”

  “It won’t happen again,” Jake said, almost desperately.

  Lily turned toward the door. “I’m going to shower and change, and then we can go over what needs to be done.”

  Jake looked at his watch. “I, uh, don’t have time right now. I have to get to a job site. I’ll come by again tomorrow with Tom to go over the inside of the house.”

  Lily stopped at the door to look back at him. “Coward,” she said.

  “I won’t touch you again,” he repeated.

  “Things have changed, Jake. You can’t change them back.”

  “It was just a kiss,” he said, trying to sound blasé while his breath nearly wheezed out of his chest and his cock ached like a rotten tooth.

  “You just go right on believing that.”

  And with that parting line, Lily walked out of the room.

  Chapter 3

  Jake showed up the next day, Tom in tow, to go through the inside of the house. The message was clear. Jake didn’t want to talk about what had happened.

  Lily wanted the cosmetic work done on the main rooms of the house before her furniture was delivered. Since most of the rooms only need paint and flooring, Jake knew he could get it done in time. He had other projects working, but Tom was the best friend he’d ever had and Lily…well, he didn’t know what Lily was, exactly, but he knew he’d do anything he could to fit her rehab into his schedule.

  Jake started showing up early in the morning before going to his other job site and late in the day when he was done. She always had coffee ready for him, and in the evening, she would leave spaghetti or chili on the stove for him for when he was done. Sometimes she stayed to eat with him, but just as often, she was out with her mother, Tom, or Derek.

  It irked him that she was spending so much time with Derek. It also irked him that, when she saw Jake, she always sent him a heated look. One that said she was imagining all the hot and sweaty things they could do in bed together. He hoped Lily wasn’t giving those same looks to Derek.

  One afternoon he showed up earlier than usual and found Lily lying in a lounge chair in the backyard reading a book. He figured she must have been immersed in it because she didn’t hear him open the sliding doors from her house. He watched her for a minute because the sun was shining off her curls, making her look like a flame. She was all cream and gold, and he knew that some primitive part of him wanted to possess all that fire.

  When she started to shift, he thought she saw him, but she proved him wrong by moving her hand over her breast and squeezing.

  Jake froze. The semi-erection he had when he’d first seen her looking so beautiful in the sunshine went fully hard and painful in a jerk so sudden he wondered if he’d damaged himself.

  Lily tweaked her nipple and made a soft sound before running her hand down to the apex of her shorts. She unbuttoned them and slid the zipper down. From his vantage point behind her, Jake could see the bright pink of her panties. She separated her legs, knees up, and slid her hand inside her panties, pushing them down a little. Jake could see her smooth pussy with only a small trail of fiery red hair. Unconsciously, he started to rub his cock through his pants. Jake gave an involuntary groan.

  * * * *

  Lily froze at the sound and looked over her shoulders. She saw Jake, standing at the doorway, rubbing his crotch. It should have made her angry or embarrassed that he had been watching her try to masturbate, but she wasn’t. She felt her body dampen even further.

  Deciding to see if she could push him into more, Lily slid her shorts off, pulling the panties with them. She knew that men thought a bare pussy was sexy, but that’s not why she waxed. She did it for herself. She loved the feel of being mostly bare.

  Keeping eye contact, Lily spread her knees and ran her fingers through her wetness. She rubbed it all around her naked lips, making Jake growl and walk forward. He stopped about two feet away. As she watched, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Lily knew she had never see
n anything sexier than Jake’s hand rubbing up and down his hard cock. Her mouth watered at the thought of taking him into her mouth.

  Neither of them said anything as they watched each other. Lily thought he’d come the rest of the way to her, but he didn’t. She decided that, if he weren’t going to touch her, she’d give him a show he’d never forget. While rubbing her clit with one hand, she used the other to pinch and tease her nipples.

  Since she had never found anyone she liked enough to have sex with, she’d learned how to relieve the sexual pressure in her body with her own touch. She never penetrated herself with more than a finger but found she didn’t need to. She just needed to stroke herself and think of something sexy.

  Since she’d returned, that something sexy had been Jake.

  * * * *

  The movement of Lily’s fingers on her body and her wet, pink opening mesmerized Jake. It was painful to stand there instead of touching her and tasting her, but he’d made the decision not to betray his friendship with Tom, and he would stick to his decision. It didn’t occur to him at the time that watching her make herself come was as bad as participating, especially since she was aware of him. In fact, by stroking his cock, he was participating.

  As he watched, her fingers on her clit picked up speed. He saw she was pinching her nipples hard now. He could feel the pressure in his balls and knew he was going to blow. When her eyes slammed closed, and she shoved a finger in her spasming pussy, Jake let go. She opened her eyes at his groan and watched the stream of white as it shot out of his dick. It shot out hard enough that some splashed onto her hip.

  * * * *

  Keeping eye contact, she ran her fingers in his cum and brought them to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she put her fingers in her mouth and licked the taste of both of them off her fingers. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

  Lily briefly considered getting up and going after Jake, but she heard the distant sound of his truck roaring away from the house. How she hadn’t heard him pull up, she didn’t know.

  She’d only been back in the house for a few minutes and was getting ready to take a shower when the phone rang. She snatched it up thinking it was Jake.

  “Hey, kiddo, whatcha up to?” Derek’s carefree voice came over the line.

  “Not much,” she said. Lily knew she sounded deflated, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “What’s the matter, doll?”

  “Nothing.” She was trying not to be depressed, but when Jake just left, he demonstrated clearly he was just not interested in being with her. Sure, he’d jerked off, but knowing him, the sight of any woman touching herself would send him over the edge. Instead of staying, he’d treated her worse than a one-night stand and left without a word.

  “I’m coming over,” he said firmly. Lily heard a click before she could respond.

  Fifteen minutes later, showered and determined to show Derek that nothing was wrong, Lily opened the door to let him in the house. She hadn’t had time to put clothes on but didn’t feel uncomfortable in her silk robe. He might like having sex with women as well as men, but he’d never been interested in her.

  Derek held up a brown paper bag and gave it a little shake. “Ice cream therapy,” he said, walking into the house and heading for the kitchen.

  Lily didn’t bother to follow him but sat on the couch instead.

  “They’re pint containers. Do you need a bowl?” he called.

  Lily didn’t even have to think about it. “No,” she called back, “it won’t make it through the night.”

  Derek returned with his Cherry Garcia ice cream in a bowl, while he handed her the pint of Chunky Monkey wrapped in a dishcloth. The lid was off, and the spoon was sticking straight out of it.

  “Okay,” he said as he sat down next to her, “dish.”

  “I’m fine,” Lily said, her voice sounding too loud, too determined.

  “Is it your mother?” Derek asked, clearly fishing for the cause.

  “No, Mom’s doing fine right now. She’s getting stronger in preparation for her surgery.”

  “Did you meet someone?” he asked.

  “No,” she answered curtly.

  Sensing he was getting the root of the problem, Derek said, “You’re having man troubles. Tell me about it.”

  Lily stood up abruptly. She could feel her eyes filling and fought it back. “There’s no guy. Not everything is about sex, you know.”

  Derek took the ice cream from her slack fingers and pulled her down into a loose embrace. “Okay, honey,” he said softly. “Who hurt you?”

  Letting out a long sigh, Lily laid her head on his chest and told him the story of what had happened. The only thing she left out was who the guy was.

  Derek rubbed her back then said, “What a jerk. Who left you like that, honey?”

  Feeling better for having gotten it out, she answered honestly, “Jake.”

  Chapter 4

  Jake left Lily’s house, angry with himself and embarrassed. He didn’t know how he could have gotten so caught up in the sight of her. Yeah, she’d been fucking sexy lying on that lounger and stroking her pussy. Just the thought of her slick cunt had him hardening again.

  He punched the steering wheel and screeched into his driveway. He put his head back and bounced it a few times, closing his eyes. A second later, he jumped when he heard a knock on his window.

  Tom was standing outside the car, still wearing his uniform, hand on his gun in a habitual manner that made him seem like he was from one of those old-time westerns.

  Jake took the keys out of the truck and stepped out. “Hey, man,” he said casually, as though he hadn’t just been bouncing his head against the back of the seat.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Tom asked. “I saw you haul ass into the driveway, then you were just sitting there.”

  Jake just said, “Long day,” and left it at that.

  Tom didn’t press.

  “What are you up to?” Jake asked.

  “I was going to stop by Derek’s to watch the game,” Tom said. “But he’s not home. His car is outside Lily’s house so I guess he’s hanging out with her tonight.” Tom sounded disgruntled.

  Without meaning to, Jake growled.

  “Huh?” Tom asked, confused by the sound.

  Jake coughed. “I think I’m getting a cold,” he said.

  Tom just slapped a hand on his shoulder. “I’m headed home. Hey, if you see Derek before I get a chance to talk to him, tell him I’m not going to Starkey’s until after eleven this weekend. One of my deputies is taking a weekend off for some wedding or something. I’m stuck working.”

  “Yeah,” Jake said absently. “I’ll tell him.”

  He waved to Tom as he drove away. Then he decided the message was important enough to call Derek and interrupt him.

  Taking out his cell phone, he dialed Derek’s number and waited impatiently for him to answer.

  * * * *

  Derek didn’t have the opportunity to process her bombshell before his cell phone rang. Looking at the display, he simply said, “Speak of the devil” to Lily, then “Hello” into the phone.

  “Derek, I just saw Tom, and he had a message for you.” Derek frowned. He couldn’t help it. Why hadn’t Tom called instead?

  “He said he has to work this weekend so he can’t make it to Starkey’s.” Before Derek could answer, he added, “Where are you?”

  Derek raised a brow. Jake had never asked that unless they had plans to get together. “I’m at Lily’s house hanging out.”

  Jake cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he said, then “um, how is she?”

  Derek met Lily’s curious gaze and decided to push Jake to see what reaction he got. “She’s just fine,” he said, with enough innuendo to be ridiculously obvious. “We were right in the middle of something though so I have to get going.”

  There was a long silence. “Yeah,” Jake said. “Fine.” Then he hung up.

  Derek chuckled. “I have an idea.”

>   * * * *

  Lily didn’t know that Derek’s idea would work. Given the way everything seemed to go with Jake, she’d be heading home solo.

  She dressed carefully for Starkey’s on Friday night. Derek had told her that her brother definitely wouldn’t be there, so she didn’t need to worry that he’d see her and think she was a hussy. She wore a short black skirt with high-heeled black boots that went all the way up to above her knee. She debated whether to wear panties but decided not to. She also didn’t wear a bra under her hot-pink top. She didn’t need the support, and the fabric wasn’t see-through.

  By ten o’clock she was sitting in the lot, waiting. When her phone indicated an incoming text from Derek that said simply “Now,” she took a deep breath and headed into the bar.

  * * * *

  Derek had convinced Jake to meet him at Starkey’s for some pool. Jake was so happy Derek wasn’t out with Lily that he readily agreed. After a couple of beers and some flirtation with a pretty blonde at the next table, Derek suggested they go play pool.

  Jake was racking the balls, his back to the doorway of the poolroom, when he heard Derek say, “Hey, doll.”

  Jake turned his head, expecting that the blonde and her friend might have followed them. The thought of a quick fuck to take the edge off didn’t overly appeal to him, but he might just have to do it to keep his sanity. He knew the woman would only be a substitute for whom he really wanted.

  When he saw Lily in Derek’s embrace, he froze. It was an innocent enough looking hug, except there was nothing innocent about how she looked. Holy fuck. She looked like a wet dream come to life.

  Lily stepped back and gave Derek a rueful grin, and then she walked over to Jake and tugged his arm down until she could kiss his cheek in greeting. Her breast rubbed on his arm, and he felt her nipple tighten under her blouse. When he looked down, both nipples were poking against the shirt. No bra. He groaned.